快猫短视频

Tokyo

JAPAN鈥檚 official limits for intake of dioxin are too high, says an
internal report produced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. But the ministry
has no immediate plans to crack down on dioxin in the environment, and pressure
groups complain that it is dragging its feet.

Citizens鈥� groups in Japan are alarmed at the quantity of dioxin found in
breast milk. Most of it comes from incinerating waste plastics and other
chlorine-containing materials. 鈥淭wo-thirds of the solid waste generated in Japan
is incinerated,鈥� says Ayako Sekine of Greenpeace.

Ash from Japanese incinerators is dumped in landfills. Dioxin can leach out
of these dumps, and rivers and the seabed around the Japanese coast are thought
to contain large amounts of the material. The health and welfare ministry does
not have comprehensive data on the concentration of dioxin in the
environment.

The maximum acceptable intake of dioxin in Japan is set at 100 picograms per
kilogram of body weight per day, which is 10 times the maximum recommended by
the WHO. The health and welfare ministry鈥檚 report proposes bringing Japan鈥檚
limit down to the WHO level.

Naoyuki Yasuda of the ministry鈥檚 Office of Environmental Chemical Safety says
that the new intake limit has been established 鈥渁s the basis of taking some
measures in the future鈥�. But campaigners argue that action is needed now. The
ministry has so far done little to limit dioxin pollution, Sekine says.

Japan鈥檚 Environment Agency, on the other hand, does want to introduce tougher
controls on dioxin pollution. The agency has proposed setting up two study
groups to determine safe dioxin intake levels. But according to a report in the
Yomiuri newspaper, these studies been blocked by the health and welfare
ministry. 鈥淭he power of the Environment Agency is too small,鈥� says Sekine.